Twilight's Embrace
by Yukishiro Madoka
Summary: If Naraku shattered your dream, let me be the one to repair it. If Naraku took away your life, let me the one to return it. If Inuyasha is your past, let me be your future. If Inuyasha broke your heart...let me be the one to heal it. [BankKiky] [Oneshot]


Disclaimer: Inuyasha does not belong to me. He doesn't belong to Kagome either. He belongs to Kikyo! -sees Rumiko Takahashi glare daggers- Okay, okay, Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi...-.-;; 

A/N. Wow, I am one WEIRD person. Heheh...-smiles sheepishly- This is such a weird pairing, but well, at least it makes more sense than Kagome/Bankotsu! I mean, seriously, he'd chop her into bite-size pieces, not chase after her and kiss her! -.-;;;

Well, I'm not saying Kikyo/Bankotsu make sense that much. xD But still, at least they've crossed paths and TALKED to each other without trying to kill each other. x) And they have more similiarites than people think they do...x)

Anyways, Bankotsu's past is made-up in this story, obviously. Welll, I just had to have SOME reason to make Bankotsu hate people so much that he'd kill everyone in his path. u.u

Okay, I know this is a weird pairing, and this one-shot probably isn't good, but please drop by and review! Although I do accept constructive criticism, I really don't want people to flame the pairing or this story because "Kikyo sucks" or "Kagome + Bankotsu LOVE FOREVVEERR!" -.-;;;;

I was trying to work on a Sango/Bankotsu ficcie(hehe, I'm a weird person for supporting this pairing xD) but this Kik/Ban popped in my mind instead. Heheh...had to get it down on paper. :DD

Forgive me, but this might be a little, teensy-bit OOC. u.u t.t p.p

Whooops! My A/N's getting a little too long! (You: No kidding! Ya think? -.-)

Anyways, hope you like this ficcie! Drop by and give a review please! xDD -huggles everyone who does-

* * *

The empty night was silent, except for the soft whisper of the gentle wind and rustle of the swaying trees. The silver moonlight glowed a lustrous radiance that suffused the earth with a pale illumination. The darkened sky was decorated with small stars that twinkled with a heavenly glimmer. The sound of crickets' chirping echoed quietly through the night, accompanied with other sounds of nature, of...life. 

Life.

That single word alone could bring so much confusion, longing, and remembrance in the minds of the undead priestess and the leader of the Band of Seven.

They had crossed paths once more, and they stood silently, staring blankly into each other's eyes, hoping to find death that so resembled their own, but only finding faint traces of life that they had always been denied.

Life.

Death.

What they called a life was only death. What they called death was only memories of life.

Perhaps they were not so different, after all.

"Kikyo."

"Bankotsu."

"If you're searching for Naraku, I know nothing of his whereabouts," Bankotsu spoke with disinterest, with a hint of smugness in his low voice. He had learned of the priestess's desire for revenge against Naraku.

"If you are searching for Inuyasha, I know nothing of his whereabouts," Kikyo cleverly countered, the composure in her voice never weakening or fading. She had learned of his desire for revenge against Inuyasha.

Revenge.

That was their only purpose.

Revenge.

But was there more?

Something...more meaningful than revenge? Something...more deeper than revenge?

Something more than life itself?

* * *

The soft whisper of the serene wind echoed throughout the area as the pale moonlight bathed the region in a dim, ivory glow. The crickets' chirping filled in the utter silence upon the atmosphere surrounding the two, lone figures in the empty field. 

Kikyo and Bankotsu sat a short distance from each other upon the grass, their weapons discarded beside them, slightly uncomfortable in each other's presence, but, even though they didn't want to admit it, not even to themselves, a bit pleased and happy that they weren't alone for once.

Alone.

The two had always hated that word. Alone.

They had lived and suffering with the pain that single word brought upon them. And now, in this what they wished to call a life, they were..._alone._

"Bankotsu."

"Yeah?"

"Why have you always enjoyed taking away the lives of the innocent?" she asked softly, her voice holding no hatred or disgust, but instead...sadness.

Sadness?

"Why do you ask?" he demanded gruffly, slightly annoyed by her simple question.

"Everyone's actions are based on what they feel..." Kikyo explained smoothly, her eyes narrowing slightly. Somehow, Bankotsu reminded her of Inuyasha. And the way they were sitting side-by-side, in an empty field, uncomfortable yet appreciative of each other's presence, with her asking a simple question, and him answering severely...

She almost smiled. He was almost like Inuyasha. Almost.

"Bankotsu, what feelings had motivated you to take away those lives?"

Bankotsu narrowed his blue eyes, which were growing colder and more stony with every passing second. "Hatred."

For some reason, that answer didn't seem to surprise her. "Hatred...?" she repeated thoughtfully, her eyes glazing over as that single word flickered through her mind. "What had those people done to you to make you feel such hatred?"

"They hadn't done anything."

Kikyo turned to face him questioningly, her mahogany eyes meeting his blue ones, as if trying to search for the answers into those pools of dark sapphire.

"It was what my father did," Bankotsu explained hastily. He paused, as if waiting grudgingly for Kikyo to ask him another question, and he continued hurriedly. "He killed my mother."

Shock and surprise flickered through Kikyo's astonished, brown eyes, but the bewilderment was instantly replaced with sorrow and remorse. "I am sorry, Bankotsu..." she whispered softly, bowing her head slightly low, as if wordlessly apologizing for bringing up the topic.

"What are you sorry for?" Bankotsu demanded in a quiet, low tone, averting her mahogany, saddened orbs. "It's not your fault."

"No, it is not," she admitted quietly. "But I am sorry..." she added quickly. "...that someone you loved died."

"Yeah. I loved my mother a lot. But when my father killed her..." His voice trailed off for a moment, and Bankotsu stared off into the dark horizon bleakly. His blue eyes were glazing over slightly and growing duller and sadder with every passing second.

"A part of me died with her. She was the only one who cared for me. I have always hated my father. He was always beating me, but when my mother was around, he would pretend to be kind to me. I didn't care much, but I knew that as long as I had my mother, nothing else mattered. And then he killed her one day and ran off..."

A hazy mist was settling in Bankotsu's saddened blue orbs. "I thought that since everyone else ignored my pain, why would I acknowledge theirs? From that day on, I decided not only would I ignore everyone else's pain, but be the _cause_ of their pain..."

"Bankotsu..." Kikyo murmured gently, her mahogany eyes softening slightly. "Taking your anger out on innocent people is not the answer. Finding it in your heart to forgive the sins of those who caused you pain is what should have been done."

Kikyo half-expected him to counter back and ask if she forgave Naraku. He didn't, to her relief. But if he had, she would have told him the truth. She did forgive him.

No, she did not forgive Naraku. But she did forgive Onigumo, the poor, wretched man she had taken care of in the cave. Even if he was the main cause of her pain and suffering, she forgave him. He was only human, after all.

"Is your heart always this pure, Kikyo?" Bankotsu asked severely, a bit of irritation tainting his low voice as his blue eyes regarded her rather bitterly.

"No. But I can still find it in my heart to forgive those who have caused me pain."

Dumbfounded and stunned by her blunt and truthful answer, Bankotsu turned away and stared up blankly at the moonlit sky. How could a person who has been tainted by bitterness and coldness, died feeling hatred and anger, become resurrected with that rage, and continued to live with bitter longing still remain pure?

She may have said that her heart wasn't always pure, but to him, it seemed so. How could she still find it in her heart to forgive those who caused her pain? How?

Why didn't she feel angry towards those who ignored her pain?

Her own wretched sister ignored her very existence. Why didn't Kikyo feel angry?

Her own village didn't feel anything about her death or life. They only cared about her because she was their priestess, and, being the wretched cowards they were, they merely hid behind her as she fought to protect them with her life. Why didn't Kikyo feel bitter?

Her own reincarnation didn't care either. She loved Inuyasha, and since Inuyasha loved Kikyo, she felt angry and jealous towards Kikyo's existence. Why didn't Kikyo feel scorn?

Naraku was the one who killed her. Why didn't Kikyo feel spite? Did she? She hadn't actually told him she did, but he decided that it'd be best if he didn't bring it up. However, Bankotsu was slightly certain she forgave him.

Inuyasha disregarded her existence, even if he still felt lingering feelings for her. However, even though he loved her, he abandoned her for her reincarnation. Why didn't Kikyo feel hatred?

Everyone ignored her pain, just as they had ignored his own feelings. She was a nobody in their eyes. So how?

How?

How could Kikyo remain...so _pure?_

As he turned to stare at her briefly, he saw her in a new light. She wasn't like those dead, unfeeling corpses that everyone, and he himself, thought she was. She was...a somebody. She wasn't a nobody, like others thought she was. She was somebody.

No, she wasn't just somebody. She was..._Kikyo._

She was beautiful, he admitted. Of course, he had always known that. He had even told her that when they first met.

_"...But I never thought you'd be so beautiful..." _

His own words echoed softly through his mind as the flashback of their first encounter flickered dimly. He almost smiled.

Kikyo _was _beautiful.

She was lovlier than other women he'd seen, even with their fancy clothing and pretty make-up. Her pale skin seemed too flawless and perfect for any make-up or decorative clothing. Her silky locks of ebony, down from her usual ponytail, cascaded delicately like a waterfall, and framed her perfectly-shaped face. Somehow, having her raven hair down emphasized her elegant eyes. Her eyes of deep hazel seemed so cold and stony, like his own blue orbs, yet they held so much agony and sorrow, a pain that so resembled his own.

But now, she seemed more beautiful. Perhaps it was because now that he knew that her heart was beautiful, she was even more beautiful than before.

She reminded him of his own mother, he thought wistfully. She disregarded her own feelings for the sake of others.She was so pure and could find it in her heart to forgive the sins of those who pained her. How could Kikyo remain so pure and forgiving?

"Kikyo."

"Yes...?"

He turned to face her, narrowing his eyes as he studied her intently. "Do you...love him?" he asked rather hesitantly, half-hoping she wouldn't understand who he meant.

"...Inuyasha?"

"Yeah._ Him_." He frowned sourly as the name alone made his blood boil furiously.

Naraku had told him what happened between Inuyasha and Kikyo. Bankotsu couldn't help himself from feeling mild disgust and scorn when Naraku told him that_he_ had been the one who played them against each other and killed Kikyo. But then again, a part of him didn't really care. Death happened everyday, didn't it? Even Bankotsu himself killed countless, innocent people. What was so different about Kikyo's death?

And then, the answer had been explained to him wordlessly when they had first crossed paths. One rather long stare into her cold eyes told him everything. Life.

She had been denied life. She wanted life, yet could never have it. She wanted a life with Inuyasha, but couldn't compete with her reincarnation. Death was her only escape, but even death denied her. She was trapped between the line that seperated life and death.

Those deep hazel eyes of hers intrigued him, holding the pain and life that so resembled his own.

"Why do you ask, Bankotsu?" Kikyo asked apathetically, turning to lock eyes with him as she narrowed her brown eyes slightly. She seemed slightly disturbed, yet as nonchalant as she had always been.

"I know about what happened fifty years ago," Bankotsu stated stiffly, a strange feeling arousing in his heart as the words escaped his lips. "I'm just wondering if you still love him, after all that's happened."

If he had thought that Kikyo's eyes were a strange, bleak brown before, they were duller and bleaker now. "I do not hate him after all that's happened, but I do still have lingering feelings. However, these feelings are meaningless because I know that he loves my reincarnation."

"Why bother loving him if he doesn't return your feelings?" he demanded with disgust, narrowing his eyes in irritation. He was slightly disgusted and annoyed with Kikyo for continuing to cling onto her love for him, but he was mostly angry at Inuyasha. How could Inuyasha abandon his former lover for her reincarantion, after all the pain she went through? How could he disregard her pain like that? How could he ignore her _love_ for him like that?

Inuyasha was like his father, he thought scornfully. Bankotsu's father had killed his wife, ignoring his wife's love for him,and broke Bankotsu's heart.And Inuyasha broke Kikyo's heart and _killed _her. Of course, Naraku was the one who killed her, but Inuyasha was mentally killing her inside. He didn't even _know _it. Even if he did...Bankotsu narrowed his eyes in rage at the thought. Even if Inuyasha _did _know, he wouldn't _care. _

"It is difficult for me to let go of the past, Bankotsu, although a part of me has already done so. However, my obstinacy is what keeps me living to gain revenge against Naraku."

"So when you do kill Naraku, what are you doing to do?" he asked carelessly, his blue orbs averting her brown onesfor an unknown reason.

"That is for me to discover," Kikyo whispered softly, closing her eyes as she tilted her head slightly towards the starry sky. "Until then, I will continue searching for a way to destroy Naraku."

Bankotsu turned away, his dark braid gracefully following his head's movements. For some reason, he was slightly annoyed and angered by her. He didn't know why, but he was.

"Why can't you just let go of the past?" Bankotsu suddenly demanded. "It's going to give you so much pain, so you might as well let go."

He half-expected her to remain silent, or whip her head sharply in his direction to whisper angry and bitter words. However, he turned slightly to find Kikyo frowning wistfully, her eyes seemingly less dull as they shimmered with deep sadness. Aside from sorrow, her eyes seemed to hold...life. Or, remembrance of life.

"Inuyasha was the only one who made me feel truly happy..." Kikyo murmurered sadly, her half-lidded chocolate eyes lowering ever so slightly. "...And...loved. Naraku destroyed that happiness and love. Bankotsu..." Kikyo paused to turn away from him, as if somehow looking at him would bring her more pain. Bankotsu's azure blue eyes softened.

Bankotsu had always felt disregard for Naraku, but he had never felt any hatred. Then again, he didn't really care. But now that Kikyo had poured out her heart to him...a broken heart that Inuyasha had unintentionally and Naraku had intentionally shattered...

A broken heart that so resembled his own, which had been broken by his father's sins and his mother's death...

How could Inuyasha leave behind such a fragile, broken, pure, beautiful woman and ignore her pain?

She was lost, he realized. She was lost without the light to her shadow. Inuyasha had been that light, but now, he was gone. She was lost and lonely and sad, he thought remorsefully. _Like him..._

"That is why I can not let go of the past," Kikyo continued sorrowfully, not noticing that Bankotsu's eyes were growing more tender and soft as he gazed somberly at the priestess. "The past was my life. The life I always dreamed I could have, the dream...that was shattered by Naraku..."

A small gasp of surprise escaped her lips as his strong, muscular arms wrapped tightly around her and pressed her closer to his broad chest. Kikyo remained motionless and utterly silent, stunned and dumbfounded by the sudden, unexpected action. She tilted her head up and her eyes widened slightly at the soft, tender look in Bankotsu's azure blue orbs.

"B-Bankotsu...?" she mananged to muster softly. She couldn't think of anything else to say, but she couldn't help thinking how warm and soft he was. It reminded her of Inuyasha's embrace, but slightly different. Inuyasha had held her shyly when he hugged her, but Bankotsu held her impulsively in his strong arms.

Even though Bankotsu was dead, he didn't feel cold. He felt...warm. And his beautiful, blue eyes weren't lifeless and devoid of emotion, but they were full of...life and...love.

Perhaps revenge wasn't their only purpose in life.

Perhaps their purpose was more deeper and meaningful than revenge or life itself.

Perhaps their purpose was...to find each other.

And...love.

She buried her face slightly in his warm chest and smiled faintly, but even though it was a small smile, it was a true, blissful smile, for the first time in this life. He smiled too, not a smug, sadistic smile, but even if it was faint, it was a loving, happy smile.

_"So when you do kill Naraku, what are you doing to do?"_

_"That is for me to discover. Until then, I will continue searching for a way to destroy Naraku."_

No, she wouldn't kill Naraku. They would kill Naraku together.

What became of her was what they would both discover together. Wherever she would go, he would be with her.

He would always be with her.

And no matter how long it took to completely erase her memories of Inuyasha and her past...

He would.

He would be the one who regarded her feelings.

He would be the light to her shadow.

"If Naraku shattered your dream, let me be the one to repair it. If Naraku took away your life, let me the one to return it. If Inuyasha is your past, let me be your future. If Inuyasha broke your heart...let me be the one to heal it."

* * *

A/N. Omgsh...-tear- I just _love _the last lines! xDD Squee, they're so cute! xDD I can just imagine Bankotsu saying that...I think. o.o I don't have a very good imagination...xD 

But still, I love those quotes, don't you? -cricket cricket- ...Guess not. D;

Anyways, hope you enjoyed this ficcie! Drop a review please! xDD


End file.
